Berkman Buzz: Week of June 15, 2009

June 19, 2009

BERKMAN BUZZ:  A look at the past week's online Berkman conversations.  If you'd like to receive this by email, sign up here.

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*Ethan Zuckerman discusses "Iran, citizen media and media attention"
*Jonathan Zittrain tells us "Why the PC Matters"
*John Palfrey takes a moment to describe the Arabic blogging community, and more, in "Internet & Democracy: China, Iran and the Arabic Blogosphere"
*From the OpenNet Initiative, "ONI Releases Reports on Filtering in Asia, China"
<http://opennet.net/blog/2009/06/oni-releases-reports-filtering-asia-china>
*Doc Searls reports, "Clutrain Chugs Again"
*Dan Gillmor looks at  "Making Reputation Measurable, Usable in Emerging Media Ecosystem"
*Lee Baker reports for the Citizen Media Law Project, "Principal Censors School Paper: Claims 'Old English' Font Promotes Gang Activity"
*David Weinberger muses, "Why I love the Web, Reason #1375"
*Weekly Global Voices: "Lebanon Bloggers React to Iran Crisis"

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"It’s been an interesting few days for people who study social media. As the protests over election results have continued in Iran, and Iranian authorities have prevented most mainstream journalists from reporting on events, there’s been a great deal of focus on social media tools, which have become very important for sharing events on the ground in Iran with audiences around the world..."
From Ethan Zuckerman's blog post, "Iran, citizen media and media attention"

"One less examined piece of what’s going on in Iran this week goes beyond the use of Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms — beyond what people can do with a basic browser.  And that’s the role of the humble PC — the personal computer, whether Windows, Mac, or GNU/Linux. What makes the PC so crucial is that it’s a 'generative' technology, i.e. one that can be repurposed by its user at any time by simply installing new software.  Without it, those in Iran wanting to get to blocked information would be mostly restricted to visiting Web sites that aren’t blocked and hoping that they can connect to those that are — the way that Twitterfall can be used to tweet even if twitter.com is blocked, or visiting an anonymizer like anonymizer.com..."
From Jonathan Zittrain's blog post, "Why the PC Matters"

"These are heady days for the study of Internet and its relationship to the practice of politics and the struggles over democratic decision-making. Three stories — in China, in Iran, and throughout the Arabic-speaking world — make a powerful case for the deepening relevance of the use of new technologies by citizens to the balance of political power around the world..."
From John Palfrey's blog post, "Internet Democracy China, Iran, The Arabic Blogosphere"

"New research from the OpenNet Initiative reveals accelerating restrictions on Internet content as Asian governments shift to next generation controls. These new techniques go beyond blocking access to websites and are more informal and fluid, implemented at edges of the network, and are often backed up by increasingly restrictive and broadly interpreted laws..."
From the OpenNet Initiative blog post, "ONI Releases Reports on Filtering in Asia, China"

"I think this may be the first time I’m listed first on anything alphabetical. The S in my surname usually puts me near the back of the aphabetical bus; but with Weinberger and Zittrain’s help, I’m listed first. Cool. I also love the early-60s design and typeface. That title 'So How’s Utopia Working Out For Ya?' was my joke response to David Weinberger’s musing out loud about titles. But, like the Cluetrain name, it quickly seemed right and stuck. Felicitous joking aside (but not out of reach), the topic is also a serious one..."
From Doc Searls post "Cluetrain Chugs Again"

"In an era where we have nearly unlimited amounts of information, one of the key issues is how to separate the good from the bad, the reliable from the unreliable, the trustworthy from the untrustworthy, the useful from the irrelevant. Unless we get this right, the emerging diverse media ecosystem won’t work well, if at all..."
From Dan Gillmor's blog post, "Making Reputation Measurable, Usable in Emerging Media Ecosystem"

"Another week, another restriction of student speech.  S.K. Johnson, the principal of Orange High School in (where else?) Orange, California, has confiscated copies of a student magazine prior to publication.  His main complaint about the latest issue of PULP concerns the cover, which features a faux full-back tattoo with the publication’s name and a picture of a panther, the school mascot.  The principal alleges that the image promotes gang life and might encourage students to get tattoos, singling out the use of Old English font to create 'gangster-style writing...'"
From Lee Baker's blog post for the Citizen Media Law Project, "Internet and Democracy Releases Report of Arabic Blogosphere"

"Yesterday, I was sitting in the comfy chair, waiting for the dentist to come back with a larger mallet, browsing around on my Blackberry ('Your Knothole to the Web!'). I settled on part 5 of Akma’s series on exegesis. I like Akma, I’m interested in how we interpret texts, Akma’s Christian perspective deeply respects its differences with others, Akma is a genuine scholar, and he is a lovely, funny writer. What could be bad? Nothin’ that doesn’t have the word 'dentist' in it..."
From David Weinberger's blog post, "Why I love the Web, Reason #1375"

"Only a week after its own tight elections, Lebanese bloggers have been intently watching the fallout from Iran's disputed polls. The turmoil in Iran - a key power broker in Lebanon and main supporter of the powerful Lebanese Shia group Hezballah - has received mixed reactions. Whilst many of the bloggers are resisting to choose a side in Iran's dispute, they have plenty to say on other fronts."
From Antoun Issa's blog post for Global Voices, "Lebanon: Bloggers React to Iran Crisis"